Brothers In Arms
by Zadien
Summary: Kai snarled, shifting his grip and moving on the sofa, he grabbed her and pulled her on top of him. "Let go of my hair, Ember." Not Yaoi.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the characters of Beyblade. I do however own Amber and how this plot plays out.

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Brothers in Arms

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By: Zadien

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"They're coming."

Amber wasn't quite sure what that ominous phrase was referring to or who but she figured that Kai would explain it all... once he stopped suffocating himself with her pillow. She'd need to clean that pillow once he was finished. There was no way she was going to sleep on his drool. Still, despite the curiosity nagging at her, she diverted her attention to the music video playing on screen and allowed herself to get lost in the images and music.

"What's that?"

She held up a hand to shush him and pumped up the volume. "Decode." She wasn't being intentionally rude but the song happened to be her favourite one at that moment and she was not having it ruined anymore than it had been by Kai's uncharacteristic bout of dramatics. That probably should have worried her, it didn't. If something was truly bothering Kai, he would have sorted it out, not come over to flop down on her bed.

The last riffs of the song began to pound out and her foot automatically began tapping in time to the bass. The scenes became more dramatic, more angst-like and filled with action. She heard Kai shift behind her and knew he was turning to get a better look at the video just as it petered out and the name came up on the screen. A number two claimed the focal point of the screen and some sort of noise blasted from the speakers which she stopped by muting it.

"That's the video for the film you're taking me to see."

"The one with Vampires?"

"Don't say it in that tone Kai; it's nothing as simple as a vampire movie." She muttered, curling her legs under her body. "So what's up with you?"

Kai blew out a breath and dragged his fingers through his hair. It was spiky like Edwards' she thought with amusement but she wouldn't say that. Kai knew of her 'slight' obsession with Edward and for some reason it bothered him enough that he constantly made sardonic comments every time the name was brought up.

"They're coming."

"Who're are coming and where are they – are we being invaded?"

"No – why do you actually look excited by that idea?"

"Um... because I think it would be cool if weird creatures came to Bakuten."

"Aliens."

"What?"

"You said weird creatures, they're called aliens. Aliens invade."

"So do Imperialists, besides, I don't believe in aliens."

"But you believe in..." Kai simply trailed off. "Never mind."

She pulled herself up onto the bed beside him and lay on her back, staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. When they had been eight, they had placed them on both their ceilings. On hers because she had been afraid of the dark and on his because being scared had been embarrassing for her, so she had forced Kai to join in, so that she wouldn't feel bad. When they had been eight, there hadn't been much she couldn't talk Kai into doing. They had met at the age of three and had been firm friends, just like their parents and growing up next-door had kept them close.

"So," She drawled, "why did your dad want you?"

Kai's face closed down and she sighed wearily. Really, Kai was the epitome of an angsting teenager. He was always emoing about something. "I told you."

"No, you said and I quote, 'they're coming'. _They_ could be anyone."

"Would it make more sense if I said _she_ was coming?"

"She? Oh." Yes, that actually did make more sense. _She_ was Grace Valkov, Kai's father's new girlfriend and that was a mouthful and a half. They had been 'dating' for a total of six months exclusively, including a few overnights that infuriated Kai because it meant staying in his house knowing his father was having sex or wandering over to Amber's house. Usually he did the latter and while that wasn't a problem, - they'd had impromptu sleepovers since they were five – it had to be weird that Kai's father was having more sex than he was.

"Stop thinking whatever you're thinking," Kai warned and she muffled a smirk, turning her face to look at him. It was so weird to think that Kai didn't have regular sex. He was so pretty that girls and some males must have wanted to just jump him on sight but Kai was particular about who he spread his seed with. As far as she could discern, making out was ok for him, but sex was something he had standards about. He had never slept, so far as she knew, with any of the school sluts. He didn't need to and he didn't want the aggravation of STD's. She figured the harlots in her school were riddled with them... then again, there were those who liked sex and were quite good at being safe and clean. It was kind of unfair to lump them all in the same boat-

"OW!" She yelped, rubbing her arm which now throbbed viciously due to Kai's rather nasty habit of pinching her when he felt her thoughts were going off the rails. "You're such a dickhead." She muttered. "I wasn't thinking anything bad. Just that you're very pretty."

Kai gave a long suffering sigh, the kind he'd started giving shortly after he'd met her. "Did you hear what I said? She's coming and she's bringing her children."

"Children? Plural?" Ugh, she did not like that idea. She and Kai were only children and despite the fact that they'd pretty much grown up together, they were still only children. The idea of siblings was so chaotic. It brought to mind noise, fighting and a severe lack of privacy. If there was something she and Kai shared, it was a need for privacy... though she often invaded his. He was Kai; she was Amber; that was how they rolled.

"You're doing that nodding thing again, Ember."

She wrinkled her nose at him as she scratched her cheek. Yes, she did have a tendency to nod along with her inner monologues. "Sorry. So children, huh? Does she have many?"

"Three."

"Oh, ouch." Her vagina hurt at the thought.

"Ember!"

"What?"

"I know what you're thinking."

"How?" Was he psychic? Oh that would be so cool. He could be a superhero and she could be his really witty sidekick.

He rolled his eyes. "You looked... you just..." he trailed off awkwardly.

Oh. She had looked sympathetically at her womanhood, she realized and he'd seen the look. "Well? You always touch yourself and look at it."

"Excuse me?"

"Ok, not you exactly but your sex as a whole. I've seen those rappers grope themselves on the TV and... No wait, I've seen you scratch yourself." She accompanied that bold statement by sticking out her tongue.

Kai rolled his eyes. A conversation with Amber was always an experience. It was probably why they were still such good friends. She never bored him as his other friends tended to. "Why have you been looking at my crotch?"

"I've come to the decision that if guys are free to ogle breasts – and don't you dare say anything about mine – then by rights, I, as a female, can look at guys' crotches. Sooner or later, I'm bound to find something of interest... even if I do need a magnifying glass."

"So wait, I can't say anything about your lack of a chest but you can say – "

"There are equal rights and then there are equal rights," She replied, stretching herself along the bed, messing up the covers of her bed spread. "Anyway, we got sidetracked. Where exactly are Grace and her children coming? Here?"

"No."

"... then?"

"He's invited them to the cabin."

"The...oh." Realization sunk in followed by surprise. "Hey wait, our cabin? But...wow, Kai, I guess he's pretty serious."

"Yeah you could say that."

"Six months and he's invited her to the Benson family Christmas. That sounds very serious Kai." They fell into a comfortable silence as they pondered what Nicolai was thinking. A Benson family Christmas was no small matter. All of Amber's relatives would be there and it was the epitome of chaos. Bringing a girlfriend back to meet the parents was one thing, bringing her to meet the whole family was something else completely and the fact that she was bringing her children too... oh, that was just like dumping them in the deep end and hoping they'd swim. Amber always figured that if she brought someone to meet the whole family; she'd be planning to marry him.

Oh.

"Kai?"

"Yeah?"

She leaned into his hand as he trailed it through her hair, a casual touch that soothed them both. "Do you think he loves her?"

"I... don't know. No, he can't."

But he was inviting her to spend Christmas with his adopted family. Nicolai didn't share any love for his father, for the most part they didn't talk, though once a year he and his son would pop into the nursing home to see the old man. Kai would visit a little more frequently since in his old age, Voltaire held no sway over him. So to Nicolai, the Benson's were the equivalent of his family, the same with how Amber's mother thought of the Benson's as family in comparison to her own, who were back in Spain.

"It's a little weird, don't you think? Your first meeting with them will be in front of the entire family."

Kai was quiet for a moment; then replied. "Actually..."

"Actually what?" She demanded, turning onto her stomach so that she could get a better look at him. He really was probably the prettiest guy she knew. Oh he wasn't conventionally pretty and no one would ever accuse him of being a pretty boy, he was too masculine for that but he was certainly handsome. Clean, angular features with a straight nose and slashing eyebrows. His mouth was firm and barely smiled, maybe smirked. His hair was navy with lighter bangs of stone blue bleached by the summer sun. But his eyes were his crowning glory. They were deep mahogany brown, such a rich colour that they sometimes seemed deep red when the light hit them at a certain angle. For a time during her childhood, she had envied his eyes, then realized she was better off since she got to look at them. If her eyes looked like his, she'd have to spend all her time in front of a mirror.

Of course, when you added a rather athletic body that reached six foot one, it was no wonder that Kai was one of the most striking guys in Bakuten high. So she could understand Grace's attraction to Nicolai, since he was just an older version of Kai only with slightly harsher features. Kai's mother's Japanese genes had added a softness to Kai's face that was only visible if you were really looking for it.

Next to Kai, she always felt a bit of a plain Jane. Her only redeeming feature was the colouring she'd inherited from her mother, the golden skin blanched rather than bleached from lack of sun. Eyes that mostly looked golden though on documents she tended to just put Brown. It was a type of brown, just not as nice as Kai's brown eyes. Her black hair always fell rather limply around her face rather than curling like her mother's once had before she chopped it off. Maybe she could cut her hair...

"You still in there Ember?"

She blinked back and smiled sheepishly. "Yup, so you were saying?"

He averted his gaze, something he only did when he was hiding something. She knew that all too well, she did it herself. Sometimes their parents called them peas in a pod... except she preferred to be a different vegetable... or no vegetable at all. She had no problem being in the same pod as Kai though, just as something else, like a flower.

"He wants us to go to dinner with them, sort of an informal get to know you."

"Informal in a restaurant? Yeah I see how easily people will get along dressed in suits... wait a minute –"

"Not a restaurant... he wants to cook. At home."

A snort escaped before she clamped a hand over her mouth. "Oh... so he's cooking for her now? Ouch."

"Yeah."

Oh dear. Kai really didn't seem to like this. To be honest, she didn't really like where things were going either. This was going to lead to upheaval. Kai was going to get siblings and well... what did that mean for her? What if one of his new siblings was really hot? He'd end up drooling over her and they'd have sex and end up in an incestuous-but-not relationship like in those teen movies... ew. And then he'd forget all about her.

"Do you want to sabotage it?"

He shot her a bland disdainful look, the kind only Kai could manage. "I'm not getting involved."

Did he want a hot step sister? "Why not?"

"Because this is his mistake. He needs to see it for himself, and he will."

"What if he doesn't?"

"He's not in love with her."

Pfft. If he wasn't in love with her, he wouldn't be bringing her to meet the entire family but she kept that thought to herself. There was no reason why he'd introduce a woman to everyone in the Benson family unless he was planning to bring her to more family stuff. She hadn't even introduced Mystel to the whole Benson family and he was her boyfriend. Granted he knew most of the Benson family but she hadn't introduced him to Nana Molly yet. That was the big test. If Nana Molly approved, you had to pretty much drag the person up the aisle or she'd marry you herself.

"What if he is?"

"How could he be? He's only known her six months." Kai patiently drawled though it didn't really sound patient at all. It sounded patronizing if she was brutally honest but it was Kai and his attitude always rolled off her like water off a ducks back.

"No they've been dating exclusively for six months, Kai they've known each other for almost a year. Aren't you the least bit worried?"

"About what?"

"I dunno, you might become... the Brady Bunch. I mean seriously, do you want a Marsha and that other guy scenario on your hands? I mean how awkward would it be for you to start crushing on your own sister?"

Kai squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Benson, first of all, she wouldn't be my sister. Second of all, Grace has one daughter as far as I know and she's thirteen."

"She won't be thirteen forever." Amber pointed out logically.

"Benson..." he snapped then trailed off as a wicked smirk curved his lips. "Are you jealous?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, that's exactly it. I've had a crush on you forever and have barely been able to control the urge to jump you in all your manly sexiness... get real. I'm trying to be serious here. You're obviously not thinking right. Probably too bowled over by the shock that your dad is actually going to cook a four course type of meal."

"...you wound me."

"Why? Because I haven't tripped over my feet in love with you? Pfft, would you really want that? Think of it, I'd moon over you. Do you want me to moon? No. You don't. That would seriously put the kaput on our talking on the bed phase. I wouldn't even be able to sleep in your bed since I'd probably try to rape you. You don't want that."

"True... that's... yeah."

"See, you're as freaked out as I am. Besides, you have plenty of girls at school who drool and daydream about having your babies, so they can boost your ego and I'm here to prick it. Not to mention that I've got Mystel who's really pretty."

"Too pretty." Kai muttered.

"Whatever... Kai, pay attention. Anyway, if the girl is thirteen, what age are the other two?"

"One's our age and the other's fifteen."

"Horrible boy ages."

"Why do you say that?" He asked, as she rolled off the bed to go look out the window, overlooking the seaside village of Bakuten that sprawled out from under the looming hill they lived upon.

"Puberty Kai. I know you don't remember that time since you flew through it in about three months... which maturity wise makes you an old man, but these boys are going to be all about sex and girls and seducing everything in sight. That means I won't be able to come over as often, because I don't want to be seduced."

"What makes them think they'd seduce you?"

Ugh, Kai was clueless. "Because," She stated with exaggerated patience, "Boys always want what they can't have and since I'm in a stable loving relationship with Mystel, they can't have me, ergo they'll want me."

"What deluded world do you live in?"

"Um, this one. Oh you won't get it," she waved him off dismissively; "You're too mature to understand real teenage boys. You might as well admit it; you're an alien possessing Kai's body on an intelligence gathering operation."

"Oh, if I'm an alien – which by the way, you confessed to not believing in fifteen minutes ago –"

"Ugh, hello, diversionary tactics!"

"Then why are you still friends with me?"

"Well obviously," She drawled, shifting in her window seat and smirking up at him, "I got close to you in order to lull you into a false sense of security, so that you would confide your secret to me and I'd be able to alert the world to your scheme, so that I could eventually save the world and elevate my status from trusty sidekick to hero. Naturally, I'd decline this promotion since I actually would prefer to be a trusty sidekick rather than a hero."

Kai seemed to ponder that for a moment, or maybe he was simply trying to process that long stream of communication before he eventually sighed and rested his shoulder against her wardrobe, brown eyes focusing on the view out the window. Not yet Christmas exactly but there was layer of mist that seemed to be forming a curtain over the ocean.

"So does this sidekick have a dress?"

"A dress? Sidekicks don't wear – wait, why? Oh my god you're asking me out on a date. Oh Kai, you're finally hitting puberty. I was wrong, you haven't hit pub–"

"Benson. Shut. Up." He enunciated carefully. "God you can be annoying. Look, dad invited you to the dinner too."

She frowned at her reflection in the glass. That sounded awfully like she had to be at the dinner. "Wait? What?"

"You heard me. You're coming too so you have to dress up a little... though I doubt it'll make much difference. We'll still have to tell everyone you're a girl."

"Ha, funny. I thought this was a _family_ thing, you know, 'informal get to know you'."

"So? You're family."

"Not by blood," she pointed out quickly, except, despite how much she didn't really want to go and get mixed up in the whole awkwardness of the situation, she knew she would. It was Kai after all, and she'd go to the moon and back if it would make him happy, though she knew it wouldn't; he'd miss her too damn much.

"Neither are they," he pointed out grimly.

"Oh poo. Fine. I'll go." She growled, tracing her initials into the condensation on the window. A flash of white in front of her caught her eye as the small bulbs on the fake icicles lit up. "Mom's home. You want to stay for dinner?"

"Is Treasa making lasagne?"

"It's Tuesday."

"Then, I'm staying."

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**A.N.** Well I can't come up with anything for TFG or SLTS and DC is just blah! right now so I decided to post this so I could get some reviews because I'm a review whore and I want some instant feedback since my creative writing lecturer never gives me any. On saying that, I like the idea of this story and it'll be something light and fluffy to entertain me and get me back into the Amber and Kai frame of mind. There will be other couples, of course. It's 3rd person point of view so yes, other couples will play a key role. Most importantly it'll be a story about Kai and Tala which'll be fun given their circumstances. So please, _please_ review.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the cast of Beyblade. I do own the plot and the town and the people who live there, most especially Amber, Treasa, Nicolai, Jean and Molly.

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Chapter Two

"For some reason, I didn't expect the film to be like that. I'm kind of disappointed."

Kai glanced over his shoulder to the girl shuffling along beside him, scuffing her worn sneakers against the frosted grass. The carpark of the cinema had iced over and was as slick as a glass bowl now; despite the fact that they weren't looking forward to the upcoming FD (family dinner), neither of them wanted to evade it by spending a few hours in casualty with a broken arm.

Kai shrugged. Personally it wasn't what he expected either. Weren't vampires supposed to be gruesome and blood thirsty? The film had been like vampire family Robinson, especially during the dinner scene. "It's a chick flick with dead people." He surmised, jerking Amber away from a patch of dog poop which someone had already stepped on.

She crowded close to him with a pout. "I know, but still. I was expecting something a little less _Ten Things I Hate about You_. Also knowing about the vampire killers before the other cast members did sucked. It took away the whole suspense thing."

Kai honestly didn't care; his attention was pulled to the thick blanket of clouds descending upon the seaside village. It would sleet soon though the snow wouldn't lie due to the salt in the air. Still, he didn't fancy being caught in the impending shower.

"Come on," he grabbed her arm and jerked her into a quick stride. They travelled around the carpark and came up behind his blue Evo 9. He fished his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the car while Amber used the car to aide her journey to the passenger door over the slippery surface.

Kai carefully made his way to the driver's side and slid in, sticking the key in the ignition. As soon as he had, Amber turned the heaters on full blast. Cold air filled the car and he grimaced, switching them off so he could run the engine.

"The car needs to heat," he told her, frowning at the state of the window. Ice crusted along the windscreen wipers and ghosted up the glass.

"Can we swing by the Friars?" Amber asked, propping her feet on the dash board only to scowl when Kai pushed them down. "Break my knees why don't you?"

"I've warned you about putting your feet on my dash, Ember."

She stuck her tongue out and sulkily glared out the window. "So Friars, Kai-Pai?"

He rolled his eyes at the childish nickname before reaching into the glove box and pulling out the pamphlet. He twitched when Amber's fingers plucked at his hair, removing a few strands when he pulled away to hand her the folded sheet. "Here, phone in our order."

"Why phone in?"

"Because we can't sit in, it'll take too long." His father would kill them both if they tried to skip the dinner; though he was unbelievably tempted.

Amber snagged his phone from the holder by the heater and began to thumb in the number. He quirked a brow, but remained silent; previous experience told him that she didn't have any credit in her phone and even if she did, she'd deny it. It was simpler to just let her have her way while he sorted out the window – they wouldn't be going anywhere if he couldn't see.

"What's your dad cooking?" Amber asked as she listened to the phone ring.

"Something he found in one of mom's old cookbooks," and that was another sticking point between them, "Treasa said she left a lasagne in the fridge in case things go wrong."

Amber hung up with a sigh. "We shouldn't eat something else then. Nicolai is going to the effort and all. We should try and be supportive."

"You've seen my dad's cooking. Wouldn't it be better to have something to line our stomachs?"

Amber shook her head. "It just doesn't feel right to eat before his dinner. We can go get something later. I'd say you'd need a drink by the end of it."

He glanced at her quickly, feeling momentary surprise followed by a fleeting burst of pleasure. "You're offering to take me drinking?"

"I'm offering to phone Johnny and Rei to take you drinking," She retorted primly. "I know what you're like when you're drunk."

He turned his attention back to the window, noting the ice dissolving in small spots above the heaters. He frowned faintly. What had he done the last time he'd been drunk around Amber? Ah. He insulted the pristine Mystel, the virgin boy wonder of their small town. His lips tilted slightly only to part on an expelled breath when Amber roughly punched him in the side.

"What the hell?"

"It wasn't funny. You were such an asshole. When I tell you things, you do not repeat them to Johnny."

"The guy hasn't slept with you; there's something wrong there." He ignored her dark look and when she opened her mouth, he shushed her efficiently by covering it with his hand. She licked him. "Jesus Ember, what are you? A dog?"

"A slut and a dog? Wow, I'm the regular transformer!"

Girls, they were so sensitive. "It was a compliment." He muttered.

"How is that a compliment? Mystel respects me."

"You're..." He made a face. He wasn't good at telling people things they should already know and telling Amber that she was attractive was just weird. It wasn't something he could say to her. He always feared their dynamics would change but Mystel pissed him off. If Amber was his girlfriend, if he thought of her in that way, he would have... had sex with her. There was no reason not to.

"I'm what?"

"Hn."

Amber's head hit the back of the seat. "Come back of the century. Are you sure you even want me to come tonight because – "

He snagged her chin forcing her to look at him. "If you ditch me Benson, you're dead to me."

Her eyes lifted to the roof of the car but she reluctantly smiled. "What sort of friend would I be if I just abandoned you?"

He nodded tightly and settled back in his seat, knocking the car into gear and slowly easing out of the space. The wheels squeaked against the slick tarmac and the car jerked forward, growling at its inability to move fluidly. But they were moving and they weren't in any hurry to make their destination.

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"Now I want you three to behave, please."

Tala Valkov used the fact that he was concentrating on driving to evade his mother's comment. He had no intention of pandering to his mother's whims, to play the perfect son so that she could fall into another marriage that they would have to struggle out of. He ignored his mother's gushing statements about how perfect this new man was. He'd heard it all before. _He really loves children and he can't wait to meet you. Oh and he's got such a big house and we're all going to live there together. _Tala gripped the steering wheel tighter and the car swerved around the corner, almost fishtailing before he got it under control.

"Watch your speed," Grace warned. "It's icy out there."

Tala ground his teeth. If the weather had been like this any other night, his mother would have restricted them all to the house claiming it was too dangerous to venture anywhere. But since this was a trip to the new man's house, of course they had to go. Who cared if they skidded off the road and into a tree?

"We shouldn't be out here." The comment echoed Tala's thoughts only in a more pointed tone.

His mother sighed wearily and turned with a fixed smile to look at his siblings in the backseat. "Look, tonight has been planned for a while now –"

"A week and a half is not a while, unless you planned it before even mentioning it to us," his sister's acerbic tongue lanced into his mother. Tala could almost see the dent and the flash of pain but he bit his tongue. This wasn't fair to any of them. His mother was pushing them into something none of them wanted and she hadn't even bothered to discuss it with them.

Just like last time.

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Amber pushed her way out of the car and grabbed the door to prevent herself from falling flat on her face when her legs squicked out from underneath her.

"Holy hell," She yelped, struggling to find her feet while Kai snorted out a laugh. "Not funny, Hiwatari-ass."

"Benson your nicknames are becoming pathetic."

"Only just becoming?" She tiptoed over the driveway and skipped onto the grass, struggling over to Kai so she could latch onto him and keep her balance. "Since when did it become so cold at this time of year?"

"Something to do with global warming," Kai muttered, wrapping his large warm hand around hers. "Your skin is freezing."

"Bad circulation, Mum thinks. Nana has it too."

Kai felt his expression soften at the mention of the Benson Matriarch. The woman was like no one he'd ever met. She was old enough to be set in her ways and nothing interfered with that. She had a wicked sense of humor, a sly wit and a firm protective instinct towards her clan and her temper was a force to be reckoned with. Usually when Molly blew, the whole family hit the deck and hoped for the fury to pass over quickly.

The sharp pinch of fingernails had Kai growling and angling his hand to twist Amber's fingers into a tight grip. She yelped and struggled against him, shoving her back against his chest as she pried his fingers from hers.

"You're freakishly strong," she growled, jerking her elbow back into his gut but shouted when her elbow collided with something hard. "What the fricken hell is under your coat? A stone tablet?"

He huffed out a breath and shifted so his hips were away from her body. "Let go of my fingers and I'll let go of your hand."

"Eh, you're not really very noble." She squirmed and backed into him, ruining his attempt at chivalry. He scowled and began to shuffle them towards the house.

"Where the hell have you two been?"

Kai froze in position, hands entangled with Amber's, arms and legs caging her so that he was all but covering her. Of course his father was going to open the front door and see this. Of course his father was going to jump to conclusions. It wasn't as if Amber and Kai hadn't faced these jumps before. _You live right next door, you're both teenagers and have hormones and you spend so much time in each other's company... _For some reason, it never occurred to their parents that he had too much respect for Amber to jump her bones for convenience sake or that Amber was too loyal to Mystel to jump his.

He lifted his head to glare at his father from under his hair. "Out."

He felt Amber sigh loudly against him and her body sagged as she twisted out of his grip. "Sorry uncle Nicky, I made Kai take me to the cinema. I didn't realize it would get so icy out. Do you need help or something?"

Kai scowled as she skipped over the frosted lawn and almost slipped on the paving until she reached the front stairs. He followed leisurely after her, meeting his father's accessing look with one of contempt. He didn't want this woman in their lives and this dinner was going to be one big farce. No doubt there would be polite smiles and an over eagerness to please

He stepped past his father and into the hall, kicking off his boots like Amber had so that there wouldn't be footprints on the floor.

"So when's she getting here?" Amber questioned, picking up the mail and fanning through it. Kai snatched the envelopes from her and placed them back on the phone table, pushing her ahead of him into the kitchen. He was dying to see what his father had done to the place. There were pots soaking in the sink, the dishwasher was gurgling happily in the corner while the oven hummed. One of the mahogany cupboards had turned white, a handful of flour covered a patch of the slate tiles while a sopping cloth was weeping a puddle on the marble countertop.

"Well," Amber mused in an aside, "It's not as bad as I expected it to be."

He had to agree with that. He'd expected the smoke alarm to be going haywire as smoke funnelled from the oven or for the fire extinguishers foam to be a decorous coating to every available surface.

Instead it all looked quietly under control.

"Nicky," Amber sang his name knowing she was possibly the only person who'd get away with calling him such, "what time are we eating at?"

Nicolai slipped out of the lounge and stopped in the hallway, dark eyes dazed and his peppered navy hair was a dishevelled mess. There were patches of powder on his black slacks, on the backs of his hands and in a streak over his forehead. His white shirt was unbuttoned at the neck and rolled up at the sleeves and the man simply looked frazzled. Kai looked away.

"Um, she should be here in half an hour. We'll have dinner shortly after that."

Amber nodded, ochre eyes assessing as she studied both of them. Kai met her gaze unflinching and she heaved a sigh. "Alright, I'm going." Kai's stomach jumped and her eyes widened, "Oh, I mean to get dressed."

"Oh, I should change." Nicolai nodded to himself, turning from them and heading for the stairs. The man was not acting like himself at all.

"Right, I'll walk you to the door." Kai stated, ignoring her bewildered look to grab her elbow. He escorted her through the kitchen to the backdoor. Opening it, he kept a hold of his friend until she looked at him with an expression of sheer exasperation.

"What?"

"Don't do a runner. If you abandon me, we're through. Got it?"

"Really? By abandoning you now, you'll throw away years of friendship? Don't worry Kai-Pai. I'll come back, though by the way, it's really not fair that I have to wear a stupid dress to eat dinner at your house. When did you guys become so hoity-toity?" She flashed him a grin and punched his arm before skipping off the steps, skidding on the ice and falling on her ass. "Ow!"

Kai grinned but said nothing as she huffed and got to her feet, rubbing her backside as she hobbled over to her house. He closed the door with a slight shake of his head.

* * *

**AN**: Yes another long time between updates but I've been really busy with home life and writing my novel for creative writing and keeping my friends happy by visiting. It really does just catch up so that time just slips away. I'm going to try being more dedicated but... we'll see what happens. Hope you enjoyed this though. Just something wintery to get into the spirit of this time of year.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Beyblade but I own Nicolai, Grace and Amber.

* * *

Chapter Three

_Kai's new sister better not be hot. _

Clasping her necklace at her nape, Amber studied the road through her bedroom window and wondered what car they'd be driving when they arrived. Cars told a lot about people. Of course, she wasn't well versed on the psychology of the matter but she figured she could hazard a guess. Silver Volvo = Edward Cullen wannabe. Ferrari = Italian gigolo. For men, cars seemed to say: look at my car; it's an outward show of my sexual prowess. If that was the case, she wondered if shoes and handbags said something similar about women. Maybe that's why they were called snatch bags... or was that clutch? She could never be sure so she never used them. Her wallet suited her just fine.

Stick your hand into my snatch – yeah she was pretty certain it was clutch.

Her phone beeped as she was slipping on her shoes and she grabbed it from the dressing table. If that was Kai again –

"Yep?"

"Hey."

"Oh hi." Not Kai then.

"You sound disappointed."

"Not disappointed, surprised. Kai's been annoying me for the past ten minutes so I figured it was him again but it's you and so it's a nice surprise. What's up?"

"Tonight's the dinner isn't it?" Mystel sighed but it was an expression of dawning and she smiled.

"You forgot huh? Yeah tonight's the night we meet Kai's new step-family. Not that I've said that to Kai but... it seems fairly serious."

"So you think an engagement's on the cards?"

"Fairly certain. Nicolai and Mum have been having some really in-depth conversations lately. You know the kind that insists on that heavy silence when someone, namely me, steps into the room. They make me feel like an intruder in my own – for frick sake would you go on," she growled yanking on the shoe. "Sorry, my shoe is being mean. So why did you phone?"

"Was just wondering if you wanted to go out tonight but since you're busy I'll catch you online later, ok?"

"Yeah if things go well; Kai's going to be pissy so I'll probably need to rant at you. Don't hate me for it."

"Not going to happen."

She grinned and her heart fluttered. Christ, Mystel was so cute. She'd really lucked out with him, no matter what Kai said.

"I'll talk to you later. Enjoy your dinner."

"It'll be interesting at any rate." She smiled and put her phone in her hoody pocket as he hung up. She slipped out of her bedroom and closing her door, she rounded the landing with its mahogany topped white railings before she skipped down the stairs into the hall. She crossed to the front door, checked the locks were secure before she down the hall into the kitchen. She tapped the lights under the cupboards so that she or her mother wouldn't be stepping into a dark house later and pressing a kiss to her fingers, she touched them to the picture of her parents before the divorce. Divorce was ugly and it was hard but at least both her parents were still in the picture, she couldn't imagine losing her mother the way Kai lost Jean. Sure it was a blow to her, Jean had been a second mom, but it was nowhere near what Kai experienced. She just hoped Nicolai was right about this Grace Sanchez woman.

After keying in the code for the alarm, she opened the backdoor and stepped into the blue light of the icy December night. The cold sneaked through her tights and up the sleeves of her jacket as she yanked the backdoor into place.

Heedless of the ice and almost paying for it, she struggled over to the Hiwatari's backdoor. It faced her own house though her backdoor faced the backyard fence. Despite the houses looking almost identical from the outside, they couldn't have been more different.

She knocked quickly, as was her custom, and opened the backdoor, stepping into the heat of the kitchen and wiping her feet on the mat. She didn't want to leave footprints over the terracotta tiled floor. The silence of the house made her frown.

"You guys still here?" Maybe they'd done a last minute runner. Kai could have knocked his father out and took him away from the place. She wouldn't put it past him. He was notoriously ruthless when it came to getting his own way. Shoot, she should have checked the driveway for Kai's car.

"Amber, what tie should I wear?" Nicolai's voice coming from upstairs sent a wave of relief through her. Then his question registered. Tie?

"No tie, Nicolai," she called back, "It's already a farce that I have to wear a dress." She continued, muttering, as she headed into the lounge area where she found Kai lying across the sofa.

"Hey," she greeted, moving to sit on the armrest. "Why aren't you changed yet?"

He angled his head and appraised her with those very dark eyes. She disguised a shiver by rolling her shoulders and feigning cold. Kai looked away to the TV. "I'm dressed."

"In a T-shirt and a pair of jeans." Yes, he'd changed but... she was wearing a dress. He should have been at least in a shirt.

"So? It's my house."

Nicolai stepped in at that moment and moved to stand in front of the fireplace. "Does this look alr – Amber, you're wearing a dress. You look lovely."

The light began to dawn and Amber tried to smile at Nicolai but it felt tight and awkward. "Yeah, well, I want to make a good impression. Show her that you have at least partially raised one good teenager."

Nicolai chuckled but it trailed off as he focused on Kai. "Please, give her a chance."

Kai grunted something unintelligible and while Nicolai focused on his cuffs, Amber slipped her fingers into Kai's hair and gripped the silk strands firmly without pulling them; a gentle warning.

"I need cufflinks."

When Nicolai left and was making his way up the stairs, Amber began to tug on the strands between her fingers. Kai hissed out an expletive and his arm flew up so his hand could snap around her wrist.

"Bitch."

"Asshole. You told me it was formal and I needed a dress!" She pulled harder, ignoring Kai's unrelenting grip on her wrist. She was going to have a bruise in the morning.

"Let go, Ember. I don't want to hurt you."

"No way, you made me wear a dress. I was being nice to you! I'm going home."

Kai snarled, shifting his grip and moving on the sofa, he grabbed her and pulled her on top of him. "Let go of my hair, Ember."

"Let go off my hands, I'm exposing myself!" She could feel that her skirt had flipped up.

Kai snorted out a laugh and reached down to bat the skirt back into place. "When are you going to act like a girl? No wonder Mystel won't sleep with you."

She was going to kill him.

She punched his side hard and blew her hair out of her face. "My sex life is none of yours."

"When you have one, you can keep all the secrets you like." He chuckled, grabbing her hands and capturing them behind her back.

An exhaled sound caught their attention and Kai sat up enough so they could both peek over the back of the sofa. Nicolai leaned against the doorframe with his arms folded across his chest.

"What the hell is going on here?"

"Wild animal sex." The words were out before she could help it and she choked on her own breath.

Kai groaned and let go of her hands, falling back onto the sofa. "You wish, Benson."

"I'd like to have that scratched –" Nicolai quirked a brow while Kai coughed out a laugh. She groaned as she realized how that sounded. "I meant, from the record, not..." She whimpered and slumped against Kai, hitting her head off his chest lightly.

"Maybe you two should sit in the recliners. Separately."

"Yeah wouldn't want to your girlfriend to be freaked out by your incestuous children."

Amber swatted Kai's head. "Oy. Stop being a dick." She growled, before glowering at Nicolai so he could feel the brunt of her wrath too. "And it wouldn't be incestuous between us because we're not actually related! I can jump Kai's bones if I want!"

Nicolai raised his eyes to the ceiling and deciding the conversation wasn't worth it, he headed back to the kitchen.

Kai blew out a breath, turning his head to watch the TV while idly stroking her back. "Do I even get a say in you jumping my bones to relieve your sexual frustration?"

She dug her elbow into his gut and he cursed, poking his own finger into her lower back so that she arched away from it and into him. "Moron! Besides, I could just tie you up with handcuffs and Chinese knots and stuff so I can just use you. I'll probably need a gag too but sure, that'll be grand for you, you're probably into all that kinky stuff – and this is just too weird to talk with you about." She rolled off him and stood up, presenting her hand. "Truce?"

He batted her hand away gently and sat up, inching over. She dropped down onto the sofa beside him. Her eyes wandered to the clock to check the time. Surely they would be arriving soon. A tickle developed in her stomach; then something caught her attention.

"Kai?" He grunted and she continued, her eyes narrowing. "Is every picture of Jean in this room?"

Kai jerked a shoulder but Amber could see them all now. Twenty plus framed photos were scattered throughout the living room; all of them including Jean's smiling face in full Technicolor. Some, she realized, were even duplicates. Nicolai was probably so nervous he hadn't noticed but she was sure Grace would.

"Kai," She groaned, turning her face and burying it in his shoulder. "You're not making things easy."

* * *

"Are we nearly there?"

Tala ground his teeth and shifted down a gear to inch up the steep slope. The car's wheels were beginning to squeak against the slick layer of ice covering the road.

"We're going to die."

"Oh shut up," He snarled. Ever since his brother joined the emo crowd he'd become a melodramatic fuckwit.

His sister heaved a pointed sigh while his mother shifted in her seat, deliberately ignoring their reluctance.

"It's just at the top of this hill."

Tala grunted and was silently thankful they'd taken his mother's four wheel drive rather than his own car. The latter would have gotten half way up the hill before making a sliding dash to the bottom. At least they would have avoided the impending dinner of doom.

As the car crested the slope Tala heard his sister's gasp. "Is that it?" She wondered.

"Sit down, you're blocking my view."

"Both of you sit down, it's just a house." He snarled, glancing at his mother before looking back to the houses that sat on prominently on top of the hill. The others arched down either side but these two held court at the top, the King and Queen of houses. They were Victorian style painted a dark grey with slate black roofs that jutted out of the house in peaks and slopes. White railings framed the steps and lined the wraparound porches. Christmas lights twinkled along the edges and wrapped around poles while ornaments hovered in windows. In the large Bay windows that jutted from the front of both houses, Christmas trees ladened with coloured baubles and sprinkled with tiny lights glittered merrily. They even sported wreaths on the doors with stained glass windows.

"Which one?"

"That one there," His mother pointed out the closest house and Tala indicated before swinging the jeep into the drive behind an Evo and a silver Lexus. The guy was pretentious, Tala surmised, putting the car out of gear and switching off the car. The house was impressive though but it was just another nail in the coffin. Who needed such a big house and two cars for himself and his one child?

He stepped out of the car and surveyed the neighbourhood. Too quiet, almost Stepford-ish.

His sister fixed her glasses firmly on the bridge of her nose as she stepped carefully after their mother along the glassy driveway. "It's not often you see identical Victorian houses," she commented.

Tala jerked a shoulder. She was full of useless information. All he cared about was getting out of there before the dark cloud overhead burst and stranded them with Mr. Brady. He ushered his brother ahead of him and cast one last longing glance at the car as his mother pressed the doorbell.

* * *

From her position on the recliner, opposite him, Amber eased forward and propped her chin on her laced fingers. "Megan Fox: Do or die?"

"Die."

Amber blinked at him and he jerked a shoulder though a small smirk flirted with his lips as he imagined her reaction to his answer. "She'd probably snap in half and I'd be up on a murder charge. Though if it was BJ or die, BJ every time."

"Ah," She nodded comprehending, "Ew."

"You're a girl; you're not supposed to understand –

"Kai!"

Amber and Kai rolled their heads to regard the man in the doorway flanked by the new arrivals. There she was, red haired, elfin and tiny, the absolute opposite to his mother. Where Jean Hiwatari had long blue hair, shades lighter than his own bangs, Grace's hair was burnished gold and cut into a short stylish bob. Where Jean had been tall and lean and obviously Japanese, Grace was short and curvy with tanned skin and soft European features. His mother's eyes had been brown; Grace had blue eyes to rival the calmest lake. His mother had always dressed with a casual chic; this woman was coming to an informal dinner in a black dress.

"Grace, you remember my son Kai."

Grace smiled warmly and approached him, holding out her hand. He heaved a sigh and rose to his feet, keeping the sofa between them as he reached across to grasp her hand. It was cold to the touch and butter soft, a woman who took great care of her skin. He couldn't resent that, his mother had always been the same, going to salons, painting her nails and slathering her hands in various crèmes.

"Nice to meet you again, Kai."

He grunted and Nicolai quickly moved into the room to urge Amber forward beside Kai, moving so that he stood behind both of them. He was, Kai noted with mild amusement, using Amber as a yard stick. The bewildered expression on Amber's face confirmed she'd noticed it too.

"This is Amber. I've told you about her before."

"Of course, it's very nice to meet you, Amber."

Amber smiled brightly, her friendliness overshadowing the wariness she'd initially shown. "You too and these are your children?"

Kai eyes napped to the doorway where the three extras stood solemn. Grace quickly hurried back to them and slipping between the boys and behind the girl. She placed a hand on both boys' shoulders, only for the blond to shrug it off. He was obviously in some emo stage, spiked silvery blond hair so out of place in the family of red heads, kohl rimmed blue eyes in golden skin. He was the furthest in colouration to Grace. He wasn't as tall as his brother but was bulkier, probably inheriting that from his mother. He was dressed in a plain black hoody and skinny black jeans decorated with a bright silver wallet chain.

Kai's eyes darted to Amber, wondering if she'd caught the sulky emo but her eyes were firmly fixed on the red head. Kai sighed. Great, trouble would brew in paradise. Amber would fixate on the tall lanky red head, who was pale enough to rival a vampire, while Mystel whined to him about how she didn't love him anymore. Well, they both had the bright blue eyes though in everything else they were chalk and cheese. Red head was at least a few inches taller than Kai but lanky with it. His vibrant red hair – had to be bottle bought – was styled in two horns with two strands framing his face. Devil worshipper? His skin was far too clear to be male, he probably had ovaries hidden somewhere. At least his clothing choice was more apt, a white shirt and blue jeans with a pair of docs.

His gaze dropped to the final figure centred in front of her mother and between her brothers. She too was a red head but her long hair was more an orange colour than actual red. Her skin tone wasn't the same white as her red haired brother but was certainly closer to her mother's. Her eyes were a lighter shade of blue, much like her mothers. She was dressed in a white blouse with a blue cardigan and a short black shirt, with black tights and a pair of flat black shoes.

"Yes," Grace smiled, "These are my children: Tala, Miguel and Emily."

* * *

**AN.** Well there you go, the next chapter. Yes the chapters are short but in being short, they're less daunting to sit at a screen and write :) That means I'm more likely to write them fast. Anyway, you've now been introduced to Tala's rather electic family. I have odd reasons for choosing these three as siblings, some will understand the Miguel thing and the Emily thing probably makes no sense since they're all different nationalities but... in my head it works. They're cartoon figures, they look alike and they certainly make an interesting family.

Please review guys, it's what keeps me writing fanfiction.


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